1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for filtering a packet based on a port bit map within a communication network environment such as token ring, ATM, Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet and 10 Gigabit Ethernet, or any other networking environment. Moreover, the present invention can be applied to any packet-based media environment. In particular, the present invention relates to a packet filter and a method for filtering a packet that can be implemented on a semiconductor substrate such as a silicon chip.
2. Description of the Related Art
In networking applications, an incoming packet enters an ingress port of a network component, such as a switch, wherein the network component processes the incoming packet and directs it to an egress port. In processing the incoming packet, the network component can examine the incoming packet on the ingress side of the network component, and can determine addressing and routing information to enhance network performance.
The network component can apply various addressing and processing logic to the incoming packet when examining the incoming packet. As the demands for higher speed and lower cost network components increases, so does the demand for an innovative system to meet such demands. Accordingly, a fast, efficient and low cost network component can greatly benefit the communication network environment.